CD Details
- Released: January 20, 2010
- Label: Teichiku Japan
Entertainment Reviews:
Rolling Stone - 4/1/99, p.102
4 Stars (out of 5) - "...With a spatial blend of acoustic guitars, mandolins and banjos, Townsend and Lane put a spiffy, village pub band spin on American roots rock..."
Product Description:
Personnel includes: Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane (acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin, bass, banjo, ukelele); Eric Clapton (acoustic & electric guitars, dobro); Graham Lyle (12-string acoustic guitar); Charlie Hart (violin); Peter Hope Evans (harmonica); Benny Gallagher (accordion); Mel Collins (saxophone); John Entwistle (brass, background vocals); Ian Stewart (piano); Rabbit (piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, organ); Boz Burrell (bass); David Marquee (double bass); Charlie Watts, Henry Spinetti (drums); Julian Diggle (percussion); Billy Nicholls (background vocals).
Recorded at Olympic Studios in London, England between 1976 and 1977.
ROUGH MIX is one of the most relaxed albums of Pete Townshend's solo career. With this release, the Who leader leaves the thundering avalanche of his band to create a rustic pub band atmosphere. It's a damned notable pub band to be sure (with guest performances from Charlie Watts, Eric Clapton, and Ian Stewart, to name a few) and one can only surmise how much the late (and former Small Faces member) Ronnie Lane is responsible for the offhand charm.
On ROUGH MIX, ukelele, dobro, and accordion outweigh the Les Pauls and Marshall stacks that usually attend Townshend's music. The album's best tunes (some of which were written and are sung by Lane himself) rely on warm, homespun invitations rather than riffs played at eardrum-shattering volume. With tunes that are by turn bucolically wistful ("Annie"), sweeping and majestic ("Street in the City"), and playfully grandiose ("Misunderstood"), ROUGH MIX is delightfully out of place in Townshend's catalogue.
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